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広い

hiroi

A room and a face can both be 'wide' in Japanese

The picture You spread both arms and still don't reach the edges — they have pulled further apart. 広い is the edges moving apart; 狭い is the edges closing in on your body.

Describing words

Where the picture shows up in 広い

  1. a roomy space

    この部屋は広いですね。

    kono heya wa hiroi desu ne

    This room is spacious, isn't it.

    The door opens on two desks set down with floor still left over

  2. a wide road

    広い道に出ましょう。

    hiroi michi ni de-mashō

    Let's get out onto the wide road.

    Two cars passing on either side with space still down the middle

  3. wide knowledge

    彼は知識が広いです。

    kare wa chishiki ga hiroi desu

    He knows a wide range of things.

    Each time the subject changes he nods and picks it straight up

  4. well connected

    顔が広いので誰でも知っています。

    kao ga hiroi node dare de mo shit-te i-masu

    He's well connected — he knows everybody.

    He walks into a shop and the owner and a customer both raise a hand at once

    顔が広い is not about a large face — it means knowing a lot of people.

  5. a broad body

    肩幅が広いので服が合いません。

    katahaba ga hiroi node fuku ga ai-masen

    My shoulders are broad, so clothes don't fit.

    A jacket goes on and the seam across the back pulls tight

All of it in one picture

広い is one picture: the left and right edges far apart. Far apart in a room and there's floor left over after the furniture; far apart on a road and two cars can pass; far apart in what you know and the talk can go anywhere. When your face reaches far, someone knows you everywhere you go; when your shoulders reach far, the jacket stops fitting.

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